1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a test apparatus for a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a test socket available for ball grid array (BGA) packages.
2. Description of the Related Art
A trend of electronic products may be toward lighter weight, smaller size, higher speed, more functionality, higher performance, better reliability, and/or more cost-effective fabrication. As the trend continues, package assembly technology may become more important. The BGA package may have an array of external terminals, e.g., solder balls, which may be distributed over a chip surface. This may be in contrast to a conventional lead frame package that may have external terminals only at peripheral locations, i.e., at one or more chip edges.
In a BGA package, the distribution of terminal locations may reduce the area occupied by the package when the package is mounted on a motherboard, for example. In this regard, the BGA package may provide for an improved mounting density. Furthermore, the surface-distributed terminals may reduce electrical signal propagation paths within the package, thereby allowing an improvement in electrical characteristics.
BGA packages may have solder balls arranged in standard configurations. The particular standard configuration may depend on a category of the device in which the BGA package is to be implemented. However, advances in modern digital technology may require solder ball configurations in addition to the standard configurations. Such non-standard solder ball configurations may accommodate changes in input/output terminals on the chip and/or modifications in package structures, for example.
Products implementing BGA packages may be subjected to electrical and/or reliability tests, for example. Such tests may employ a test socket that receives the solder balls of the BGA package to provide electrical access to the product. Thus, if the solder ball configuration of the BGA package is changed, then the test socket may also need to be changed to accommodate the BGA package. In addition, the infrastructure related to the tests may also need to be altered and/or rebuilt. Unfortunately, changing the test socket and the infrastructure may impose a heavy burden on package assemblers with regard to time and cost, for example.